Rob Van Dam
Robert Alexander Szakowski (born December 18, 1970) better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam is an American wrestler. He made his name in the original Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) capturing both Tag Team and Television championships. In the original ECW, he was a two-time World Tag Team Champion with Sabu and a one-time (and the longest reigning) World Television Champion. During his time in WWE, he was a two time world champion, having won the WWE Championship and ECW World Heavyweight Championship once each. He was the first ECW World Heavyweight Champion under the WWE banner, and the only man to hold both the ECW and WWE Championships at the same time. Additionally, he was a six-time Intercontinental Champion, a four-time (and the final) Hardcore Champion, the final European Champion, a two-time World Tag Team Champion with Kane and Booker T respectively, and a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion with Rey Mysterio. He was also the winner of the Money in the Bank ladder match in 2006. Career Considered by many to be sports-entertainment's ultimate risk taker, Rob Van Dam ''utilized a lethal combunation of acrobatic offense and martial arts to mold a ''WWE ''career that was truly one of a kind. A standout in ''ECW, "Mr. Monday Night" ''made his highly-anticipated ''WWE ''in 2001. Although a member of ''The Alliance ''at the time, he managed to gain the admiration of the fans through his awe-inspiring aerial assault, which was highlighted by electrifying moves such as the ''Van Terminator, Rolling Thunder ''and ''Five-Star Frog Splash. ''It wasn't long before ''Van Dam's ''innovative offense was driving him to championship opportunities. ''RVD ''won his first majour piece of ''WWE ''hardware at ''WrestleMania X8 ''when he beat ''William Regal ''for the ''Intercontinental Championship. ''Subsequent victories saw him claim nearly very other singles championship in ''WWE, ''including the now-defunct ''European ''and ''Hardcore championships. ''He also proved to be a force in the tag team ranks, winning titles with partners ''Kane, Booker T ''and ''Rey Mysterio. In 2006 career finally reached the pinnacle so many predicted when he won the thrilling Money in the Bank Ladder ''Match at ''WrestleMania 22. ''As "Mr. Money in the Bank," ''RVD was offered the opportunity to challenge for a World Championship at the time and location of his choosing. He chose wisely. In front of a large fan base at One Night Stand, RVD ''challenged the normally popular ''John Cena ''for the ''WWE Championship . The ECW ''faithful nearly booed ''Cena ''out of the arena, but not before ''RVD ''could defeat him for the ''WWE Championship ''first. A few days later, ''Paul Heyman ''also awarded the rechristened ''ECW Championship ''to ''RVD, making him the first Superstar to hold both titles simultaneously. RVD ''quietly left ''WWE ''in the summer of 2007. While he no longer entertains ''WWE ''audiences, many fans look back at his time on ''Raw,Smackdown ''and especially ''ECW ''with great foundness. In fact, some might say he was the "''Whole Dam Show" Rob Van Dam made his debut for TNA Wrestling on March 8, 2010, defeating Sting on iMPACT! in his very first match with the company. Wrestling facts *'Finishing moves' **450 Splash - AJPW **''Five-Star Frog Splash'' (High-angle frog splash, sometimes while turning in mid-air) **''Hollywood Star Press'' (ECW) / Split-Legged Moonsault (WWF/E & WCW) - innovated **''Van Daminator'' (Spinning wheel kick to a steel chair held in front of the opponent's face) **''Van Terminator/Chair Surf/Van Dam Time'' (Corner-to-corner missile dropkick, usually with a chair positioned on the opponent's face) *'Signature moves' **''Air Van Dam'' (Senton Bomb), sometimes to the outside **Bridging northern lights suplex **Diving splash **Double underhook falling facebuster **Modified Leg-feed Enzuigiri **Moonsault, sometimes while springboarding or sometimes preceded by a cartwheel **Multiple kick variations: ***''Chair Surf'' (Running dropkick, driving a steel chair into the face of a seated opponent in the corner of the ring) ***Diving Super ***Legsweep ***Roundhouse ***Springboard Spinning Savate - Sometimes done while opponent is hung on the top rope between the legs ***Spinning crescent ***Modified Spinning Heel ***''Windmill Kick'' (Van Dam catches the opponent's kicking leg and performs a step-over wheel) **Multiple leg drop variations: ***Corkscrew, sometimes while springboarding ***Diving ***Slingshot **Plancha **Rolling Thunder transitioned into either a monkey flip, a somersault senton, or a vertical splash **Running crossbody, sometimes done while facing away from opponent **''Steamroller Slam'' (Rolling fireman's carry slam) **Springboard into either a clothesline, a leg lariat, or a moonsault **Two turnbuckle thrusts followed by a back handspring and finished wither with a monkey flip or a final running turnbuckle thrust *'Nicknames' **"Mr. Monday Night" **"Mr. PPV" **"Mr. Thursday Night" **"R-V-D" **"The Whole F'N Show" *'Tag teams and stables' **Aerial Assault - with Bobby Bradley **The Alliance **ECW Originals **'Rob Van Dam' & Sabu **Team WWF *'Managers' **Bill Alfonso (ECW) *'Theme music' **“One Of A Kind” by Breaking Point (WWE) - Eventually, replaced by "Fury of the Storm" due to licensing issues with "One of a Kind" **“Poundcake” by Van Halen (ECW) **“Walk” by Kilgore (ECW) **“Walk” by Pantera (ECW) Championships and accomplishments *'Extreme Championship Wrestling' :*ECW World Television Champion (1 time) :*ECW World Tag Team Champion (2 time) - with Sabu *'National Wrestling Conference' :*NWC Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Bobby Bradley * Total Nonstop Action Wrestling **TNA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current) *World Stars of Wrestling **WSW World Championship (1 time, current) *' World Wrestling Entertainment' *:*WWE Heavyweight Champion (1 time) *:*ECW Heavyweight Champion (1 time) *:*WWE Intercontinental Champion (6 time) *:*WWF Hardcore Champion (4 time) *:*WWE European Champion (1 time) *:*World Tag Team Champion (2 time) - with Kane (1), Booker T (1) *:*WWE Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Rey Mysterio *:*7th WWE Grand Slam Champion See also *Rob Van Dam's event history *Rob Van Dam's gimmicks External links *RobVanDam.com (Official Website) *5StarComics.com *Rob Van Dam profile at CAGEMATCH.net Category:Career Category:American wrestlers Category:!Bang! alumni Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling alumni Category:All Star Wrestling alumni Category:American Wrestling Rampage alumni Category:Associacao Portugesa de Wrestling alumni Category:Deep South Wrestling alumni Category:Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling alumni Category:Independent Wrestling World alumni Category:Inoki Genome Federation alumni Category:Jersey All Pro Wrestling alumni Category:National Wrestling Conference alumni Category:Nu-Wrestling Evolution alumni Category:NWA Sabu alumni Category:Pro Wrestling Alliance alumni Category:Pro Wrestling Guerrilla current roster Category:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling current roster Category:Ultimate Pro Wrestling alumni Category:World Championship Wrestling alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni